But, with some downside?“Such a radical new management style did not come without strains. A few top executives have left, and many physicians have balked at what they consider threats to their autonomy. Sending teams to Japan and hiring consultants cost about $1.5 million. And as in car production, there are safety risks in too much streamlining.“

I don't understand what they mean by safety risks…. I can't imagine a TPS approach or consultant encouraging anyone to focus on anything but safety first (employee and customer/patient safety). I hope this is just a case of the reporter not understanding.

This columnist, from Minnesota, takes a somewhat cynical view of adopting Toyota methods to hospitals. As “lean healthcare” becomes more common, we'll have to work to fight uninformed “people aren't like cars” perceptions that miss the point.

Also, I disagree with the Washington Post article that Dell Computer has copied the Toyota method. Dell has, for better or for worse, developed their own model. I didn’t see a whole lot that was inspired by Toyota and I know that it wasn’t Michael Dell’s initial inspiration.